Process of rolling tie-plates and the like.



I I I 1). H. LENTZ. I v

PROCESS OF ROLLING TIE PLATES AND THE LIKE;

I I APPLICATION FILED T1313. 5, 1910.

986,071 I. Patented Mar. 7, 1911.

2 sums-sum 1.

D. H. LEN'I'Z. PROCESS OF ROLLING TIE PLATES AND THE LIKE. I

1 APPLIUATIOH'IILED H1315, 1910.

986,071, Patented Mar. 7, 1911.

m T \i 2 1 N 1 N\N K 1 1 11 A 1 f 1 F 31; 1 W Y r w i P- g M N 1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DA'VID II. LENTZ, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO SELLERS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

raoonss or ROLLING TIE-PLATES AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 7, 1911.

Application filed February 5, 1910. Serial No. 542,259.

TiePlates and the Like, of which the folcheapentheir manufacture.

lowing is a specification.

My invention relates to the manufacture of metal tie plates; and the invention has for its object to provide a new and improved method of rolling the plates, or more correctly speaking, of rolling the strip of metal which is subsequently severed and punched so as to form the separate tie plates, which method successfully obviates certain difficulties which have been-heretofore encountered in the manufacture of articles of this sort and which makes it possible. to improve the character of the plates and simplify and Tie plates are ordinarily formed with ribs or shoulders against which the base of the rail, which the plates are designed to support, abuts. Before my invention it was the general practice to roll plates of this character lengthwise of the rib or shoulder, that is to say, a strip of metal of considerable lengthwas rolled out with a. rib running lengthwise of the same, and this strip was afterward severed transversely so as to form the individual tie plates. By this method of manufacture the grain of the plate ran lengthwise of the plate, that is, parallel with the rail.. It obviousl would have been better, however, to have t e grain run in theopposite direction as, the plate would be better calculated to stand the strainsput upon it, which are strains tending to break it lengthwise. 'It was therefore attempted to roll the plates the other way, that 1s, to i'oll out a strip having, 'instead of the one long rib, a series of. transverse ribs Several difficulties stood in the way of the "successful accom lishment of this method of manufacture. I or instance, the reduction of the billet sufiiciently to produce at regular intervals asuflicient amount of surplus metal to" form the transverseshoulders put so much strain on the rolls and upon the metal passing through the same as 'to cause the former to wearvery quickly and so as to make the strip of metal liable lac-"become distorted, stretched and torn.

These difficulties I overcame in part by forming a depression in the plate immediately in advance of each rib or shoulder, the surplus metal from the depression being 1mmediately forced into the groove in the roll which formed the shoulder, thus doing away with the necessity of pushin the excess metal, necessary to form the s oulders,

the length of each plate, and equalizing the strains on the rolls and on the billet. Furthermore, by severing the rolled blank through these depressions, tie plates were formed with tapered or sloping edges, malting a plate of more desirable configuration and in the long run economizing a considerable amount of metal. However, the formation of these depressions has, in the 'first place, a tendency to tear and distort the metal at these thin places and places of increased-pressure, and this is particularly the case where, for reasons of economy, the tie plates are'made from cheap scra metal.

The displacement of the metal to formthe fins because of the squeezing out of the metal between the rolls, and this is undesirable both because it results in a plate of bad appearance and also because of possible injury to the rolls. These difliculties have been overcome by giving'to the billet, before it enters the final pass which forms the depressions and shoulders on the upper surface of the plates, a peculiar configuration which will be hereinafter described in connection with the other steps ofthe process. The primary object of my invention is, therefore, to provide a practical and successful method of formingthe tie plates by which the rolling may be done in the direction transversely to the ribs formed on the strip of metal, which is subsequently severed to form the separate tie plates, so

that the grain of the plates may run transversely of the same, that is, transversely of the rails which the plates are designed to support.

A further primarybbject of the invention is to provide a methodof forming the roducplates, having regard both to the or the tion of a" desirable confi uration plate and also the facilitation of the rollin step of the process, in which the plate is 0 such form as to be easily manufactured by the rollmg process emand economically 1 loo ' duced from scrap loyed, and, in which the process employed is particularly adapted to the production of such useful and acceptable form of plate.

While the method herein disclosed is a suitable method for rolling blanks of the sort concerned when any usual or ordinary metal is used, the method is of particular advantage when the material is scrap metal which, previous to the rolling steps described, has been welded into a more or less homogeneous mass, because even under the most favorable circumstances'a material of this sort is never as strong and tenacious as the ordinary grades of steel and iron, so that the disadvantages and difiiculties which have to be coped with in rolling a blank of the sort described, are enhanced by the rela-.

tive inferior quality of the billet thus prometal.

The method of my invention is illus trated in the accompanying drawings, in

I plate.

Figure 1 shows a pair of rollssuitable for rolling a tie plate of the character which my P oces i Particul rly e gn d to p u he uppe oll being hown in elevation an the lower in section- Fig. 2 is a frag ntary cross section through said rolls, this i w be ng on. n en a g cal ig 3 a d 4 P Pi iY9 views of the top nd-b tm, re pect vely of a ti p a e f h f rm igned in he pr duc by my Pr Fig. 5 a plan view of the billet shown in t right han 611d of the u showing the b llet as it enters the-rolls and the left hand end as it comes-from the rolls. Figs. 6, 7 and 8, sections taken on lines 6- 6., T-7 and 8-8, respectively, of Fig. 5. Fig; 9 a iragrnentary view partly in section and partly in elevation of the lower roll, and Fig. 10 a modified form of tie ike characters of reference indicate like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Referring to the" drawings, 15 represents the upper roll efa pair of rolls, of any desired 'eonstructiomthe rolling surface 16 of which upper roll :is formed with the transverse grooves 1.8 and adjacent transverse proj'eptlons 1.9.- Qne side 20 of the groove 18 1s formed on substantially .a. radial line of the roll, the other surface 21 being sloping and constituting one surface of the pro.

jeCti n 12. The grgove-l-B and projection 19 torm, respectively, the transverse rib or shoulder 22 on the upper su'rfaceof the. tie pla indi ated by n r 3 and the bev eled edge 2* oft e latter to ether with the ja ent b veled edge 25 o the. n t suceeeding plate. It will be understoodthat my proces s not l mit d t the Precise e fi i r t en and PIQP D f th Parts shown.

35 itsrolling'surface 27 wltha plurality of insipns is counteracted. As a result 0 The lowerroll 26. is preferably formed on he amoun at the be d p nding 11 mize metal; and that of the ribs 30 is to prevent the plate from slipping or becoming displaced on the tie. The ribs 31 by becoming embedded in the fiber of the tie aid in this regard and are also of service in excluding water from entering beneath the plate, which has a tendency to rot the tie, since it can not readily evaporate.

In order to obtain a plate of this general configuration in which the transverse depressions and transverse ribs on the u per surface of the plates will be rolled crosswise of the billet, the billet'32, before it is pa thro gh rolls l5 and 2.6 wh ch pr fy, s sho n, nst te a l sed pas is given ubstan ial y th nfigura on shown in Figs. 2, 5 and 6. That is, it is rolled, for ample in h d r P s ith t l hsidi j l edge v l d, a hown at and i the s ideas th d es sn'th de de- Th billet thus ormed is put through th fi al Pa s b e n rolls 1 an 26, preferably in the direction indicated in gha th d pr ion forming'the tapered surfaces 24; and 25 of the plates-are made immedi e y in advance of the tran verse ribs 22. Thus the excess metal displaced in the making of the depressions is 'forced immediately into the grooves 1.8

the upper roll which form the transverse ribs 22. Bythis method the strain on the rollsand on the billet due to the formation of the depressions is'minimized and sufficient surplus metal for the formation ofthe ribs is obtained.

It .will be understood that the rolling .Of

the billet necessitates'its reduction in'thickness throughout. Therefore, if, the edge of the billet. were straight-the d splacement of the metal which takes place when the depressions are formed, which can not be entirely taken care of by the formation of the shoulders, will be very likely to {form a fin at the edge of the depressed port-ions of the e l trlp, e t the queer ng ut of the metal between the rolls. The was found a y rm was r lle By he lies he billet n th man ershewn in Fig 5; an 6.

t k pla v ry frequen y hen billet-9i the thi. k essof the-billet, the an. kness er bevel, it may happen, and generally -will happen, that theplate when rolled has a slight bevel along its'edges, but that is a matter of no importance The other difliculty arising from the transverse rolling of" the depressions and ribs is'obviated or di- IiilnlSllGCl by forming the billet with the ribs 34 running along the edges on the un- *der side of the billet. The formation of the depressions involves necessarily an increased strain upon the strip of metal at these places ofleast thickness, and as a resultthere is a tendency for the metal to fray and tear at these points, and particularly at the iidgcs of the strip. The ribs 34: act as reinforcements to prevent such fraying or tearing. The ribs 34 of the billet, which are rolled, to form the ribs 31 of the plates, also constitute an advantageous feature of the finished plate by tending to keep water from entering beneath the plate, and also by" assisting theribs inholding the plate firmlyon the' tie. After a strip has been rolled of the character shown at the right hand side'of Fig. 2, the left hand side of Fig. 5 and in Figs. 7 and 8,it is severed along the lowest lines of the transverse de resjsion so as to form the separate tiev p ates figuration, both as to its upper surface and" which may then be punched to form the spike holes 35.

lVhile I haveselected, 'for the purposeof illustration, a tie plate of a particular conas to its lower surface, and while my processis particularly suited and adapted for the production of a tie plate of this con figuration, it 'will be obvious that the proccss might be employed for the manufacture of plates of a somewhat different character,

where the same or similar conditions prevall, and in wh1cl1 the same or smilar dllll- 'cultieshave to be overcome. Therefore, I do not limit myself to the particularitiesshown and described, except as the same are made 'llIDltiltlOIlS on the claims herein.

An example of a tie plate somewhat different in configuration from that described above is to be found in the tapered or bev- 1. The method of forming a metal blank having depressions extending across the same and adapted to be severed to form tie lates, which consists 'in'firs't producing a illet having its longitudinal edges beveled and thenrolling said billet between rolls of a. configuration to produce said transverse depressions 'onthe surface of said billet which is beveled.

2, The method of forming a metal blank having depressions and ribs extending across the same and adapted to be severed to form tie plates, which consists in first producing a billet having its longitudinal edges beveled and then rolling said billet between rolls of a configuration to produce said transverse depressions and transverse ribs on the surface-of said billet which is beveled.

3. The method of forming a metal blank havingdepressions and ribs extending across the same and adapted to be severed to form tie plates, which consists in first producing a billet having its longitudinal edges beveled and then rolling said billet'bet-ween rollsof a configuration to produce said transverse depressions on the surface of said billet which is beveled, and immediately after each such depression a transverse rib on said surface.

ing depressions extending across the same i and adapted to be severed to form tie plates, which consists in first producing a billet having ribs running longitudinally thereof adjacent the edges of said billet, and then rolling such billet betweenvrolls of a configuration to produce said transverse depressions on the opposite side thereof from sad ribs while substantially preserving said r1 s.

6. The method of forming a blank having depressions .and ribs extending across the same and adapted to be severed to form .tie plates, which consists in first producing a billet having ribs running longitudinally thereof adjacent the edges of said billet,

and then rolling such billet between rolls of a configuration to produce said transverse depressions on' the opposite side thereof from said ribs and immediately after each of said depressions a transverse rib on said surface while substantially preserving said longitudinal ribs. a

7. The method of forming a blank having depressions extending across the same and adapted to be severed to form tie plates, which consists in first producing a billet having, its longitudinal edges beveled on one surface, and being formed on the oppo site side with ribs adjacent the longitudinal edges of the billet. andthen rolling said billet between rolls of a configuration to produce saidtransverse depressions on the surface of saidbillet which is beveled and to substantially preserve said longitudinal ribs While said being inade. v

8. The method of forming a blank having depressions and ribs extending across the same and adapted to be severed to form tie plates, which consists in first producing a 'billet having its longitudinal edges beveled on one surface and being formed on the opposite side with'ribs adjacent the longitudinal edges of the billet, and then rolling said billetbetween rolls of a configuration to produce said transverse depressions on the surface thereof having the beveled edges and immediately aftereach such depression a transverse rib while substantially preserving .said longitudinal ribs.

9.'The method of forming a blank having depressions and ribs extending across the same and adapted to be severed to form tie plates, which consists in first'p'roducin a billet having its longitudinal edges bevele on one surface and being formed on the opposite side with ribs adjacent the longitudinal edges of the billet, then rolling said billet between rolls of a configuration to produce said transverse depressions on the surface of the billet having the beveled edges and immediately after each such depression a transverse rib on such surface, and to pro duce a plurality of ribs on the other surface of the billet.

10. The method of forming a metal blank transverse depressions are having transverse ribs and adapted to be severed so as to form tie plates'which 0011- sists in rolling a billet of metal so as to produce first a depression which is transverse with respectto the direction of rolling, and

which are transverse with respect to the direction of rolling. 3 g

12. The method of forming a metal blank having transverse depressions and ribs and adapted to "be severed so as to form tie plates, which consists in first producin a billet having its longitudinal edges beve ed,

' and then rolling said billet in a closed pass formed by rollsof a configuration to "roduce successive depressions and ribs w ich are transverse with respect to the direction of rolling.

' DAVID H. LENTZ.

Witnesses:

- P. H. TRUMAN,

E. L. BRnEoER'r. 

